“I’m sayin’ I love you, dang it! I’m sayin’ I want you to be my wife! I’m sayin’ I been a-waitin’ to hold you in my arms ever since the day we got married…. No, way longer than thet, Lord hep me. Miss Love—Love, I been a-waitin’ for this minute ever since the day I laid eyes on you!” Mr. Blakeslee

– Through this statement the themes of love and pain are revealed, for the anger and intensity coming from Mr. Blakeslee is all his bottled up emotions finally flooding out. For the longest time, Mr. Blakeslee and Miss Love had to deny there attraction to one another due to the disapproving eyes of Cold Sassy, obviously causing them a large amount of stress and pain. This pain is ultimately a result of their undeniable attraction to one another, also explaining why Miss Love was always so emotional. An alternative perspective could show how it was not necessarily the hatred of the people that tore the two apart but the internal battle the faced within themselves, for they knew they were hurting the one’s they love. For Miss Love, she was hurting the man from Texas, and Mr. Blakeslee was hurting his family as well as the soul of Miss Mattie Lou, however eventually love overwhelmed these feelings and brought Miss Love and Mr. Blakeslee back together.